NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) wants banks to offer a list of breaks for insured borrowers in the wake of disasters like Hurricane Sandy.

New "guidance" issued by Uncle Sam requires banks to offer a 90-day foreclosure moratorium on properties located in Presidentially-declared disaster zones. It also asks banks to consider a full range of benefits to delinquent borrowers, including mortgage modifications, partial claims, refinance options and waiver of late charges.

It also directs banks to release homeowners' insurance proceeds to borrowers rather than apply them to bring delinquent mortgages current.

The agency has published guidelines to lenders to help FHA-insured borrowers in disaster areas.

"These guidelines provide clarity to the lending community and ultimately help families with FHA-insured mortgages to recover from major disasters," said Acting FHA Commissioner Carol Galante. "Whether it's giving delinquent borrowers more time to get back on their feet or making sure lenders don't misuse insurance payouts, our goal is to make sure we put these families on the path to recovery as quickly as possible."

A new study by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York suggests that bondholders still don't believe the government would ever let the firms collapse into bankruptcy -- after a decade of efforts by regulators to convince them otherwise. But at least one analyst who tracks big Wall Street firms' bonds says there may be an even bigger problem: Investors, pressured by the need to generate income, simply don't care whether the banks are too big to fail -- one way or the other.

Goldman Sachs Group Co-President and former CFO Harvey Schwartz will retire April 20, the company said Monday in a press release. The announcement came just days after the Wall Street Journal reported that CEO Lloyd Blankfein is preparing to step down, possibly later this year.